Pigpen's DFW diary..

Ms_Piggy_2

:hello: @ Pigpen! Hope you are well......

Do you fancy coming over and sorting me & DH out? We need to save for a house but are not too god at saving (and he's worse than me - hence I'm in charge! ) He needs a suit (£200?) a travel card (£400) and car tax (£120) this month, so no room for saving .

Re: jobs - how about in a library? Nice and quiet too!
How about: http://personnel.hull.ac.uk/

pigpen

Yes.. I've got another one paid off.. my La Redoute account is now paid off, my Next, my studio cards AND my vertbaudet

It all seems to be heading in the right direction!

I've also paid off my huge fuel bill... before I get the next one. I do still owe them £200 but I owed them that back in May before they slapped a £677.90 bill on me!

I am hoping to merge 2 credit cards onto one with a lower interest rate tomorrow... but that means making phone calls and I hate doing that.. needs must!! I've tried getting one with 9% interest but that's not working.. noone is brave enough to giv eme another one with my current credit rating.. though I can't see what is actually on there that is so bad.. I've missed one payment on 2 different things the last 12 months but that's not too horrific I don't think.... I'll try again in a few months.

I've actually reduced my debt by almost £10,000 in the last 9 months!!! that is pretty spectacular considering we have had Christmas, 2 weddings AND 8 birthdays in that time!! Well... I'm impressed!!

betti911

Thats an amazing reduction on your debt. Well done :T :T :T

pigpen

Wow.. BIG update since July..

I took out a £15,000 consolidation loan.. Lower interest than most of the big debts though over a longer period of time it is possible to make overpayments and so long as 1p is left remaining until the end of the term I don't get charged an early settlement fee.. even I win the lottery and pay it tomorrow Plus 5 months deferred payemtns means I don't have to pay anythign until March which ean I can use the extra money to pay for a frugal christmas.

I've got loads of freebies and such stashed away for pressies for family too which is working out great.. just about covered everyone already.

Obviously my new 'balance' doesn't include the new loan but I am going to change it once I have paid off the remaining £2812.81 as I will only have the bank loan then. (more than half of this is hubby's student loan)

I am aiming to have the loan paid (all but that 1p) by the end of 2009.. in the mean time I am £770 a MONTH betetr off in the short term.. I am hoping I have learned how to juggle my finances so we do not end up back in the same situation again.

We made full and final settlements on most of the outstanding debts which reduced the amount we paid by £2500 which meant I could pay off the few smaller outstanding pain in the neck debts and get the bathroom decorated!

We are currently 'in front' and hoping to stay there!!

Off to post a HUGE box of baby stuff to my uncle and his GF for their new addition!!! :D:D:D:D:D

pigpen

£3500 Net. pcm
(hubbys wages, CTC, CB, CA, DLA often a bit more through ebay etc)

Outgoings :

£600 mortgage
£100 3x mobile contracts.. (yes we need them all!)
£85 house and life insurances.. (cheapest ones taken out last month with lots of cashback via quidco!)
£100 student loan (£1900 remaining apr 4.4%)
£100 work loan (£800 remaining no interest)
£50 Credit Card - mbna (Bal £429 17.9%) (to be paid off chopped up and burnt on the 5th November!)

£3000 overdraft (bal £3000 3.1% apr)

£40 Phone/Broadband
£200 gas/electric

£350/400 Food
£55 school meals (usually send in pack ups but this is the maximum it would be)
£150 for nights out/childrens pocket money etc
£50 clothing.. we pass a LOT down and I make a fair bit of their clothing (gotta love freecycle!!) so the only thing we buy usually is school uniform and shoes!

nb. The council tax/water are paid off until next April so are not added as at present they are not outgoings

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SO.. in order of paying off..

1. MBNA credit card. £420
2. Student loan £1900
3. Overdraft £3000 then cancel it! This will be paid by basically reducing the amoutn of the overdraft limit.. if it isn't 'available' I can't spend it!!
4. Work loan.. £800 by the time the others are paid this should be almost gone anyway!

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THEN I'll have to start making overpayments on the BIG loan..

From March

£15,000 @ 12.1% apr.. BUT it is £252 a month over 8 years and I can make overpayments.. so long as there is a balance left at the end of the term (I'm looking at about 1p!!) there is no early rsettlement charge.

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Looking at our outgoings and the repayments we actually have £2255 disposable income.. so !!!!!! am I doing here????

I know this!!!

I have a phobia of 'savings'
I pay as much as possible on the things we owe money to which leaves us no money to buy the things we need so I add to the debt (and interest charges) by buying on top of what we already have.

SO..

I MUST break this cycle.

1. I have opened an ISA.. if nothing else it will effectively hide the money from me and cme in very useful as a lump payment when we remortgage at the end of our fixed rate period in 3 years time
2. Make myself AWARE this is my problem and it CAN be overcome.
3. MINIMUM payments to everyone I can manage it to except this months 'victim'
4. Christmas will NOT push me further into debt.. I won't let it!!!!

pigpen

If anyone has anything constructive to add on the above.. please do!!!

Tustastic

Hi pigpen, glad you're doing your diary again. I remember you from the Flylady thread (pauses to cough as more dust flutters round room!) that defeated me earlier this year. But hey I always have one tidy room now.
I'm glad you're still bashing away at the debts. Identifying where we are going wrong (such as your cycle of overpayment) is the quickest way to starting to overcome it. DFW are not keen on consolidation loans but that is your decision and I respect it.
Re your SOA, your gas and electricity bills seem very high if they are monthly. Is there a reason for this?
Have you ever done a spending diary to find out where money gets wasted rather than spent on what you (all) really need and want?

pigpen

I didn't want to do a consolidation loan, it sits wrong with me too.. BUT we were having to pay out so much in minimum payments we were struggling to make the rest of the house safe and keep us in food and allow the children to have treats now and again.. everything they said was greeted with.. no we don't have the money and given our income that felt wrong. It is the one thing I've done in all of this I am ashamed of... it wasn't a good idea.. but I CAN make overpayments and intend to do so as soon as everything else is gone.

the gas and electric is combined.. not each.. though only £25 of that is gas but we just use so much electricity!! I have been using only one tumble dryer.. I stuffed the other one in the middle room so I have to walk to use it.. something I don't like to do so it VERY rarely gets used.

We had the boiler replaced from 2x 15 year old ones (one for heating and one for hot water) to a brand spanking new super efficient one (we hope!!) and we are hoping it will save us a fair amount on our utility bills each month.. you could smell the wasted gas fromthe other 2 outside so hopefully in a few months we will be able to reduce that payment.

I don't spend unnecessarily I use the 'spare' money to pay people leaving us with nothing because the debt bothers me so much and my phobia of saving.

I tried doing a spending diary.. but kept leaving my bit of paper at home, or dropping it in the street or other stupid things... I should have written it on my arm!! I just overpay and leave us with nothing I think.

I'm doing pretty well with the flying.. these simple lists appeal to my sense of.. well.. listing everything which makes me feel like I am doing something... you should come back.. I'm in the hot seat for a few weeks while Lil_me moves house!

Good to see you are still about though! in the nicest possible sense!

Tustastic

Well done for getting the new boiler, it's bound to be more energy efficient so you should hopefully be seeing a reduction in the bills (and doing your bit to save the planet too).
What exactly is your savings phobia?
(Might have to read the reply tomorrow though as I must [strike]shine my sink and plump up the cushions[/strike] slob off to bed now.:o

millionaire_in_training

Hi pigpen. I am another who has defaulted on the flying:o . I still try but just couldnt keep up with the lists. You are doing incredibly well since the last time I saw your totals and to only spend that on food per month for all your brood is amazing. Makes me ashamed and thinking I really need to try and cut mine again. Good luck with your overpayments xx